About me

I was born in Ragusa in Sicily in my paternal grandmother’s bed and raised in the northern Italian city of Trieste where my Sicilian parents met and lived before and after my birth.

I came to Australia with my family in the late 1950s and settled in Adelaide, moving to Melbourne in 2002.Melbourne in 2002.

Italy is a place I have lived and travelled to many times, but Sicily has always intrigued me both as a child and as an adult.

This blog has recipes and information collected over my many visits to Italy but mainly Sicily, my sustained research and learning, observations and memories. Naturally, living in Australia, my blog also discusses Australian produce.I believe that experiencing the differences between Northern and Southern Italy has given me a great opportunity to appreciate regional Italian cooking.

Sicily has a rich history and is the melting pot of many cultures, the result of numerous trade routes, crossovers and conquests.

Because of Sicily’s strategic position between Europe and North Africa it has been a crossroad of some great civilizations. In ancient times it was conquered and colonized by Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans. In the middle ages were the Arabs, Normans and Byzantines and later the Catalans, French, Spaniards and Bourbons. The origins of Sicily’s complex gastronomic culture reflect this layering of civilizations.

For all the changes in food the majority of Sicilians are still preparing many of the dishes they have always eaten. However, particularly during my last two visits to Sicily I have noticed that in many restaurants and among the younger Sicilians the traditional, regional specialties are being re-invented into contemporary, innovative cuisine, but there is still strong usage of local ingredients and a respect for history and tradition. The photo below is of a deconstructed cannolo.

I appreciate the diversity in Sicilian cooking and I am fascinated by locality, origins and variations of recipes especially authentic and traditional recipes.

My interest in food is very much driven by my curiosity in exploring my cultural origins and I enjoy visiting my extended family in Sicily who are such warm and friendly people and passionate about food.

I have experience in teaching cooking classes and conducting cooking demonstrations and I have done this in South Australia and Victoria.

I am interested in the cultural, environmental and economic values of food production and as much as possible I want to eat safe, in season, local and sustainable produce.

I have written two cookbooks: Sicilian Seafood Cooking and Small Fishy Bites and have contributed recipes to other publications, the last being Earth Hour: Planet to Plate.

Marisa Raniolo Wilkins

A love for Sicilian food and culture has remained close to the heart of Marisa Raniolo Wilkins. Her first book, Sicilian Seafood Cooking, represents eight years of hard work and a lifetime of culinary experiences.

I am so happy to have found your site. Like you I am a sicilian living in los angeles.
You talk about cavoliceddi, my favorite vegetable during my residence in sicily. Yes we have rapini here but they are not the same.
I would love to buy some seeds. Do you know where I can purchase them?
Thank You

Hi,
I just discovered your blog and have enjoyed it very much. I am also of Sicilian descent. All my grandparents came from the Agrigento Province. My sister and I own Que Pasa Tours in Tampa, Florida and visit Sicily with groups once or twice a year. Many Sicilians settled in Tampa in the early 1900’s and now their children and grandchildren want to return to discover their roots.
It’s a coincident that my relative and tour guide Alfonso Orlando’s family also left Sicily in the 50’s and settled in Adelaide. They moved back to Sicily in the 80’s. Who knows, maybe your families knew each other. Now that I have discovered your blog, I will definitely keep reading it.

Hi Mary, your name is not familiar to me but does not mean that my parents did not know your parents. My dad was a tailor and he seemed to know everyone.I live in Melbourne now and there are many Sicilians here, but there seem to be very few in Adelaide by comparison. Although my parents were Sicilian we lived in Trieste before we came to Australia.

I managed to get some zucchetta lagenaria siciliana seeds when I was in Palermo last spring and now have them growing here in Southern California. I’m excited to be making your SICILIAN SUMMER SOUP for the first time tonight! Your blog is terrific! Please add me to your email list. Thank you!

You will be the envy of all Sicilians who are unable to obtain zucchetta lagenaria. You have taught me a different name for zuccha serpente. Thank you.
As for adding you to my email list, I am unable to do this. On my blog you will notice ‘Follow All Things Sicilian and more’- that’s the way you will be able to receive my posts.

Sorry, I am in Eastern Northern France at the moment so apologies for not replying earlier. Spada is the prized fish and much better tasting…. However I do not eat Spada – they have been over fished and are an endangered species.